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Beck & Eggeling International Fine Art
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Düsseldorf, Germany
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Emil Nolde

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b. 1867

Emil Nolde was a pioneer expressionist and colourist who tried to ingratiate himself with the Nazism of Heinrich Himmler and Adolf Hitler. An exceptionally large number of the artist's paintings however were included in the Degenerate Art exhibition in Munich in 1937. The artist was also banned from making art, but made watercolours secretly.

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Early Years

Born Emil Hansen, Nolde worked on his parent's land until 1884, when he attended the Sauermann furniture carving school (1884–1888), Flensburg and obtained a diploma. Nolde then went to Munich, where he was employed as a carver, and then likewise in Karlsruhe. There, he attended classes at the School of Decorative Arts. In 1889 he moved to Berlin, where he was employed as a design draftsman in the Pfaff furniture factory.

He became ill but acquired a teaching position in 1892 in St. Gallen, Switzerland at the School of Applied Arts. This he resigned in 1898, entering the private art school of Friedrich Fehr in Munich. He started making etchings, and then enrolled in the Adolf Hölzel School in Dachau.

Starting to travel at the turn of century, Nolde went to Denmark and then France. After visiting Le Havre, Paris, Hamburg, Sicily, and Copenhagen, he changed his name to Nolde in 1901. He became a great admirer of James Ensor and Vincent van Gogh.

Emil Nolde Artworks

Die Brücke Prints

In 1906, Emil Nolde was invited by Karl Schmidt-Rottluff to join the expressionist Die Brücke group in Dresden. He exhibited in Dresden and began to make woodcuts, including Storm (1906) and Egyptian Woman II (1910). He also continued making etchings, such as Flensburg Harbour (1907), and lithographs, like Music Hall III (1907–1915).

Nolde's paintings and prints are distinctive for their saturated colour, sense of raw intensity, distorted line, and tormented interiority. Even though he joined the Nazi party in 1920 and knew top Nazis personally, a great many of Nolde's works were confiscated or destroyed.

In the early 1930s Nolde wrote a two-volume autobiography, Das eigene Leben (My Own Life) (1932) and Jahre der Kämpfe (Years of Struggle) (1934), hoping unsuccessfully to win Nazi favour and claiming he was a patriotic (and likewise antisemitic) German.

Initially 'whitewashed' in post-war art historical accounts, Nolde is more candidly discussed now. He is known for the portrait paintings and prints Red-Haired Girl (1919) and Self Portrait (c. 1917), the biblical scenes Crucifixion (1912), The Last Supper (1909), The Burial of Christ (1915), and Christ and the Sinner (1926), and the fields of flowers Sunflowers (1930) and Dahlias and Sunflowers (1928).

Exhibitions

Nolde has been the subject of many solo and group exhibitions.

Recent solo exhibitions include Emil Nolde, Galerie Thomas, Munich (2021); Piece unique 3/2020, Galerie Schwarzer, Dusseldorf (2020); A German Legend: Emil Nolde and the Nazi Regime, Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin (2019); Emil Nolde: Retrospective, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebæk (2014); Emil Nolde: Fabre ist Kraft; Kraft ist Fabre, Galerie Ludorff, Dusseldorf (2010).

Recent group exhibitions include The Human Figure in the Art of the Twentieth Century, Galerie Thomas, Munich (2021); Fine Art Classics: Impressionism to Contemporary, Galerie Kovacek & Zetter, Vienna (2021); Art for Happiness, Galerie Ludorff, Dusseldorf (2020); The Three Expressionists: Munch, Nolde, Kirchner, Beck and Eggeling, Dusseldorf (2019).

Collections

Nolde's work in held in major institutional collections throughout the world, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Guggenheim Museum, New York; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Museum of Modern Art, New York; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Hamburger Kunsthalle, Berlin; Victoria and Albert Museum, London; Brücke Museum, Berlin; and Nolde Foundation Seebüll.

John Hurrell | Ocula | 2022

Recent Exhibitions

Contemporary art exhibition, Group Exhibition, Printemps at Beck & Eggeling International Fine Art, Düsseldorf, Germany Closed 19 May–31 July 2021 Group Exhibition Printemps
Contemporary art exhibition, Group Exhibition, The Three Expressionists at Beck & Eggeling International Fine Art, Düsseldorf, Germany Closed 9 October 2019–29 February 2020 Group Exhibition The Three Expressionists
Contemporary art exhibition, Group Exhibition, Modern & tribal masters at Berney Fine Arts GmbH, Basel, Online Only, Germany Closed 10–16 June 2019 Group Exhibition Modern & tribal masters
Contemporary art exhibition, Group Exhibition, 25 Years of Passion at Beck & Eggeling International Fine Art, Düsseldorf, Germany Closed 2 April–11 May 2019 Group Exhibition 25 Years of Passion
Contemporary art exhibition, Herbert Beck, Emil Nolde, Beck meets Nolde. Inspiration and Realization at Beck & Eggeling International Fine Art, Vienna, Austria Closed 29 November 2018–13 February 2019 Herbert Beck, Emil Nolde Beck meets Nolde. Inspiration and Realization
Contemporary art exhibition, Group Exhibition, Gelb Macht Glücklich (Yellow makes you happy) at Beck & Eggeling International Fine Art, Düsseldorf, Germany Closed 14 April–30 June 2018 Group Exhibition Gelb Macht Glücklich (Yellow makes you happy)

Recent Artworks

Roter Mohn (Red Poppies) by Emil Nolde contemporary artwork painting, works on paper
Emil Nolde Roter Mohn (Red Poppies), c. 1954 Watercolour on paper
35.1 x 46.9 cm
Beck & Eggeling International Fine Art Contact Gallery
Dr. S. (Max Sauerlandt) by Emil Nolde contemporary artwork print
Emil Nolde Dr. S. (Max Sauerlandt), 1912 Woodcut
31.5 x 22.6 cm
Beck & Eggeling International Fine Art Contact Gallery
Junge Mädchen (Ada Nolde und Lis Vilstrup); (Young Girls (Ada Nolde and Lis Vilstrup)) by Emil Nolde contemporary artwork mixed media
Emil Nolde Junge Mädchen (Ada Nolde und Lis Vilstrup); (Young Girls (Ada Nolde and Lis Vilstrup)), 1907 Lithograph with watercolour on smooth vellum
46 x 40 cm
Beck & Eggeling International Fine Art Contact Gallery
Phantasie (Drei Köpfe) by Emil Nolde contemporary artwork works on paper
Emil Nolde Phantasie (Drei Köpfe), 1931–1935 Watercolour, crayon and pen and ink on Japan paper
41 x 30.5 cm
Beck & Eggeling International Fine Art Contact Gallery

Emil Nolde In Related Press

Revisiting Britain’s Response to the Nazi “Degenerate Art” Show Related Press Revisiting Britain’s Response to the Nazi “Degenerate Art” Show 21 November 2018, Hyperallergic

BERLIN — In January 1933, the Nazis celebrated their first General Election victory with an elaborate parade down the streets of Berlin. After watching them march triumphantly through the Brandenburg

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Emil Nolde In Video & Audio

Face-to-Face Gespräch: Emil Nolde. Der Mensch und der Künstler. Related Video & Audio Face-to-Face Gespräch: Emil Nolde. Der Mensch und der Künstler. 7 April 2020, Beck & Eggeling International Fine Art

Dr. Christian Ring, Direktor der Nolde Stiftung Seebüll im Gespräch mit Michael Beck (Komplettes Gespräch)

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Video & Audio Read More (1) In Video & Audio

Emil Nolde In Publications

Herbert Beck meets Emil Nolde Herbert Beck meets Emil Nolde
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